Point specificity in acupuncture

The existence of point specificity in acupuncture is controversial, because many acupuncture studies using this principle to select control points have found that sham acupoints have similar effects to those of verum acupoints. Furthermore, the results of pain-related studies based on visual analogue scales have not supported the concept of point specificity. In contrast, hemodynamic, functional magnetic resonance imaging and neurophysiological studies evaluating the responses to stimulation of multiple points on the body surface have shown that point-specific actions are present. This review article focuses on clinical and laboratory studies supporting the existence of point specificity in acupuncture and also addresses studies that do not support this concept. Further research is needed to elucidate the point-specific actions of acupuncture

The endosymbiont Wolbachia rebounds following antibiotic treatment

Antibiotic treatment has emerged as a promising strategy to sterilize and kill filarial nematodes due to their dependence on their endosymbiotic bacteria, Wolbachia. Several studies have shown that novel and FDA-approved antibiotics are efficacious at depleting the filarial nematodes of their endosymbiont, thus reducing female fecundity. However, it remains unclear if antibiotics can permanently deplete Wolbachia and cause sterility for the lifespan of the adult worms. Concerns about resistance arising from mass drug administration necessitate a careful exploration of potential Wolbachia recrudescence. In the present study, we investigated the long-term effects of the FDA-approved antibiotic, rifampicin, in the Brugia pahangi jird model of infection. Initially, rifampicin treatment depleted Wolbachia in adult worms and simultaneously impaired female worm fecundity. However, during an 8-month washout period, Wolbachia titers rebounded and embryogenesis returned to normal. Genome sequence analyses of Wolbachia revealed that despite the population bottleneck and recovery, no genetic changes occurred that could account for the rebound. Clusters of densely packed Wolbachia within the worm\u27s ovarian tissues were observed by confocal microscopy and remained in worms treated with rifampicin, suggesting that they may serve as privileged sites that allow Wolbachia to persist in worms while treated with antibiotic. To our knowledge, these clusters have not been previously described and may be the source of the Wolbachia rebound

A multi-centre qualitative study exploring the experiences of UK South Asian and White Diabetic Patients referred for renal care

Background An exploration of renal complications of diabetes from the patient perspective is important for developing quality care through the diabetic renal disease care pathway. Methods Newly referred South Asian and White diabetic renal patients over 16 years were recruited from nephrology outpatient clinics in three UK centres - Luton, West London and Leicester – and their experiences of the diabetes and renal care recorded. A semi-structured qualitative interview was conducted with 48 patients. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically and comparisons made between the White and South Asian groups. Results 23 South Asian patients and 25 White patients were interviewed. Patient experience of diabetes ranged from a few months to 35 years with a mean time since diagnosis of 12.1 years and 17.1 years for the South Asian and White patients respectively. Confusion emerged as a response to referral shared by both groups. This sense of confusion was associated with reported lack of information at the time of referral, but also before referral. Language barriers exacerbated confusion for South Asian patients. Conclusions The diabetic renal patients who have been referred for specialist renal care and found the referral process confusing have poor of awareness of kidney complications of diabetes. Healthcare providers should be more aware of the ongoing information needs of long term diabetics as well as the context of any information exchange including language barriers

Acupuncture and reflexology for patients undergoing chemotherapy : a cohort study

Purpose: Around three quarters of individuals undergoing chemotherapy self-report multiple symptoms. There is clinical trial evidence of effectiveness for acupuncture for commonly experienced symptoms, and emerging evidence for reflexology, but little is known about the effects of these therapies on multiple symptoms when implemented in a real world setting during active chemotherapy treatment. Methods: This was a cohort study of participants receiving reflexology and/or acupuncture while attending chemotherapy. Participants received a 20 minute reflexology treatment or a 20 minute acupuncture treatment or a combination of both. Patient reported outcome measures were administered before and after the treatment using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS). Results: During the study period, 330 unique patients received a total of 809 acupuncture and/or reflexology treatments. Participants had, on average, 5.3 symptoms each which they reported as moderate to severe (≥4/10) using the ESAS at baseline. Following treatment, participants reported 3.2 symptoms as moderate to severe. The symptom change for all participant encounters receiving any therapy was statistically significant for all symptoms, and clinically significant (a reduction of more than 1) for all symptoms except financial distress, appetite, and memory. Clinically significant levels of global distress (<3) were reduced in 72% of all participants receiving either therapy. No adverse events were recorded. Conclusions: The results indicate that acupuncture and reflexology administered alongside chemotherapy may reduce patient reported symptom burden and patient global symptom related distress. Future research would include an active control group, and consider confounding factors such as chemotherapy stage and medication

Patterns of engagement in digital mental health intervention for LGBTQ+ youth: a latent profile analysis

Engagement is a key metric that researchers can use to assess whether participants received the intended dose of a digital health intervention. However, the prevailing approach has predominantly focused on individual paradata metrics, resulting in a fragmented understanding of overall engagement. To address this limitation, our study utilizes person-centered approaches that allow for the simultaneous capture of multiple engagement metrics within imi–a web application specifically designed to support the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minority youth (LGBTQ+ youth). This person-centered approach enabled us to explore the association between engagement patterns and stress appraisal outcomes within the imi intervention arm. Utilizing latent profile analysis, we classified users into two engagement forms: overall engagement (total number of sessions, pages visited, and external links clicked and their cumulative time spent using imi) and content engagement (number of pages viewed across imi's four core guides: gender, stress, queerness, and stigma). We identified two profiles for each form: a “high engagement” profile and an “average engagement” profile, with the majority of participants assigned to the “average engagement” profile. Our analyses revealed a significant association between overall engagement profiles and stress appraisals, with the “high engagement” profile demonstrating higher challenge appraisals and marginal improvements in threat appraisals compared to the “average engagement” profile. However, no such associations were observed for content engagement profiles and stress appraisal outcomes. The two person-centered approaches used were consistent with prior results utilizing a variable-centered approach, indicating a stronger intervention effect among individuals who exhibit higher engagement in digital health interventions. Although both methods yielded comparable findings, the person-centered approach mitigates concerns related to multi-collinearity and adds additional nuance and context to the study of digital engagement

Metabolic analysis of the interaction between plants and herbivores

Insect herbivores by necessity have to deal with a large arsenal of plant defence metabolites. The levels of defence compounds may be increased by insect damage. These induced plant responses may also affect the metabolism and performance of successive insect herbivores. As the chemical nature of induced responses is largely unknown, global metabolomic analyses are a valuable tool to gain more insight into the metabolites possibly involved in such interactions. This study analyzed the interaction between feral cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and small cabbage white caterpillars (Pieris rapae) and how previous attacks to the plant affect the caterpillar metabolism. Because plants may be induced by shoot and root herbivory, we compared shoot and root induction by treating the plants on either plant part with jasmonic acid. Extracts of the plants and the caterpillars were chemically analysed using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography/Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (UPLCT/MS). The study revealed that the levels of three structurally related coumaroylquinic acids were elevated in plants treated on the shoot. The levels of these compounds in plants and caterpillars were highly correlated: these compounds were defined as the ‘metabolic interface’. The role of these metabolites could only be discovered using simultaneous analysis of the plant and caterpillar metabolomes. We conclude that a metabolomics approach is useful in discovering unexpected bioactive compounds involved in ecological interactions between plants and their herbivores and higher trophic levels.

A novel dual mode X-band EPR resonator for rapid in situ microwave heating

A unique dual mode X-band CW EPR resonator designed for simultaneous EPR measurement and rapid MW induced sample heating is described. Chemical reactions subjected to a flow of energy and matter can be perturbed away from the thermodynamic equilibrium by imposing a rapid shock or physical change to the system. Depending on the magnitude of the perturbation, these changes can dictate the subsequent evolution of the entire system, allowing for instance to populate non-equilibrium reactive intermediate states. Temperature jump (T-jump) experiments are a common method to achieve such perturbations. Most T-jump experiments are based on Joule Heating methods or IR lasers. Here we demonstrate the principle of rapid sample heating based on microwaves. The benefits of MW heating include i) rapid and efficient heating (i.e. using a tuned resonant cavity, 99% efficient power transfer to the sample can be achieved), and ii) volumetric heating (i.e. the entire sample volume rises in temperature at once, since heat is generated in the sample instead of being transferred to it). Accordingly, the key concept of the design is the use of a cavity resonator allowing EPR detection (at 9.5 GHz) and sample heating (at 6.1 GHz). Temperature enhancements of 50 °C within a few seconds are possible. This is evidenced and illustrated here by probing the temperature-induced variation of the rotational dynamics of 16-doxyl stearic acid methyl ester (16-DSE) spin probe grafted on the surface of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) micelles in water, as well as copper (II) acetylacetonate in chloroform. Rapid changes in the rotational dynamics of the paramagnetic centres provide direct evidence for the in situ and simultaneous EPR measurement-heating capabilities of the resonator. Improvements afforded by the use of pulsed MW sources, will enable faster heating time scales to be achieved. In the longer term, this current study demonstrates the simple and direct possibilities for using MW heating as a means of performing T-jump experiments

Development and application of recombinant antibody-based immunoassays to tetraconazole residue analysis in fruit juices

Tetraconazole is currently used as a fungicide in fruit and vegetables. The aim of this work was the development of immunochemical techniques based on recombinant antibodies for the screening of tetraconazole residues in fruit juices. Recombinant antibodies were produced from a hybridoma cell line secreting a monoclonal antibody specific for tetraconazole and from lymphocytes of mice hyperimmunised with tetraconazole haptens conjugated to bovine serum albumin. From these antibodies, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in the conjugate-coated format were developed, which were able to detect tetraconazole standards down to 1 ng/mL. From recovery studies with spiked samples, these immunoassays determined tetraconazole in orange and apple juices with acceptable reproducibility (coefficients of variation below 25%) and recoveries (ranging from 78% to 145%) for a screening technique. The analytical performance of RAb-based immunoassays was fairly similar to that of the MAb-based immunoassays. Due to their simplicity and high sample throughput, the developed recombinant-based immunoassays can be valuable analytical tools for the screening of tetraconazole residues in fruit juices at regulatory levels.This work was funded by Ministerio de EducaciOn y Ciencia (MEC, Spain, Project AGL2002-03266). E. P. was the recipient of a doctoral fellowship from Conselleria d'Educacio (Generalitat Valenciana, Spain).Plana Andani, E.; Moreno Tamarit, MJ.; Montoya Baides, Á.; Manclus Ciscar, JJ. (2014). Development and application of recombinant antibody-based immunoassays to tetraconazole residue analysis in fruit juices. Food Chemistry. 143:205-213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.07.121S20521314

Prevalence and influence of cys407* Grm2 mutation in Hannover-derived Wistar rats:mGlu2 receptor loss links to alcohol intake, risk taking and emotional behaviour

AbstractModulation of metabotropic glutamate 2 (mGlu2) receptor function has huge potential for treating psychiatric and neurological diseases. Development of drugs acting on mGlu2 receptors depends on the development and use of translatable animal models of disease. We report here a stop codon mutation at cysteine 407 in Grm2 (cys407*) that is common in some Wistar rats. Therefore, researchers in this field need to be aware of strains with this mutation. Our genotypic survey found widespread prevalence of the mutation in commercial Wistar strains, particularly those known as Han Wistar. Such Han Wistar rats are ideal for research into the separate roles of mGlu2 and mGlu3 receptors in CNS function. Previous investigations, unknowingly using such mGlu2 receptor-lacking rats, provide insights into the role of mGlu2 receptors in behaviour. The Grm2 mutant rats, which dominate some selectively bred lines, display characteristics of altered emotionality, impulsivity and risk-related behaviours and increased voluntary alcohol intake compared with their mGlu2 receptor-competent counterparts. In addition, the data further emphasize the potential therapeutic role of mGlu2 receptors in psychiatric and neurological disease, and indicate novel methods of studying the role of mGlu2 and mGlu3 receptors

Design considerations of a dual mode X-band EPR resonator for rapid in-situ microwave heating

This paper describes the design considerations for a dual mode X-band continuous wave (CW) Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) cavity, for simultaneous EPR measurement and microwave heating of the same sample. An elliptical cavity geometry is chosen to split the degeneracy of the TM110 mode, allowing for a well resolved EPR signal with the TM110,a and TM110,b modes resonating at around 10 GHz and 9.5 GHz, respectively, the latter of which is used for EPR measurements. This geometry has the benefit that the TM010 mode used for microwave heating resonates at 6.1 GHz, below the cut off frequency of the X-band waveguide used for the EPR channel, providing effective isolation between the heating and EPR channels. The use of a pair of 9 µm thick copper clad laminates as the flat cavity walls allows for sufficient penetration of the modulation field (Bmod) into the cavity, as well as maintaining a high cavity Q factor (> 5700) for sensitive EPR measurements. Locating the heating port at an angle of 135° to the EPR port provides additional space for easier coupling adjustment and for larger sample access to be accommodated. The associated decrease of EPR signal strength is fully compensated for by using a 7.2 GHz low pass filter on the heating port. EPR spectra using 1.6 mm and 4.0 mm sample tubes are shown at room temperature (298 K) and 318 K for a standard Cu(acac)2 solution, demonstrating the effectiveness of this dual-mode EPR cavity for microwave heating during EPR detection